Mani the World Cup–Predicting Parakeet Does Not Think Paul the Psychic Octopus Could Be More Wrong

Emboldened by the stardom of Paul the psychic octopus, the Associated Press traveled all the way to Singapore to locate another animal with clairvoyant capabilities. Meet Mani, a parakeet who belongs to an 80-year-old fortuneteller. Like Paul, he is psychic; unlike Paul, he has predicted a Dutch victory in Sunday’s World Cup final. The winged soothsayer turned over a card with a Dutch flag on it today, all but ensuring the Netherlands’ upcoming victory. According to the Associated Press, “[t]he 13-year-old parakeet has become a local celebrity after its owner, M. Muniyappan, claimed Mani accurately forecast the World Cup's four quarterfinal games and Spain's semifinal victory over Germany.” (This implies that he was either not asked about the Uruguay-Netherlands game or he got it wrong.)

This situation recalls the timeless question: who is more trustworthy, a psychic parakeet or a psychic octopus? We at VF Daily’s Occult Animals Bureau believe that any loyalties must be informed by Paul’s recent endangerment: “Argentinians threatened to kill Paul and put him in a paella after he went against Diego Maradona's men. The newspaper El Dia offered this recipe for anyone daring enough to capture the intrepid octopus: ‘All you need is four normal potatoes, olive oil for taste and a little pepper,’” reports Time. Mani, as far as we know, has never faced culinary death threats. A Spanish loss for Paul would be far more consequential than a Spanish win for Mani. Plus, there’s the mystery surrounding the missing Uruguay-Netherlands game. If we’d have to gamble on just one animal augur, it would be Paul.